I think there are far too many vapers who don't realize this.
And as the influx of new vapers increases at a faster and faster rate...
The percentage that understand that keeps dropping.
You do know that the first e-cig bans started
waaaay before there were many of us... careless or otherwise... right?
Those first bans were pushed by 'health' groups affiliated with BP. Even then, BP saw the potencial of the e-cig for what it was: a very real threat to their 'clean nicotine' monopoly. The lies and misinformation started at least around 2009/10.
Most of the public had not even actually seen an e-cig by then. The same applies to most of those minions who were pushing for those bans (on behalf of their masters).
I believe I vape wisely, that is:
Inside, I will only vape with the owner's permission.
Outside (also considered a
public place), I will vape
anywere. There's no 'health danger' for anyone. If people can breathe car exhausts, they can breath second-hand vapour - harmless in comparison.
Of course, YMMV.
Yes, the public may be still
uninformed - are we going to
misinform that same public, by giving them the wrong notion that
vaping equals smoking, and should be treated the same? That's not wise. Not wise at all. In fact, that is the kind of help ANTZ's would thank us for:
The users, themselves, telling the public in an implicit manner that vaping is just another way of smoking.
That is one of the things that is missing. I have been vaping on and off since 2009. As soon as these things hit US shores there was a concerted effort to discredit vaping.
The FDA wanted them classified as "drug delivery" devices and shut down the whole industry. It was a combined effort by e-cig vendors to challenge this in court and win.
The whole "we will offend non smokers" argument is a smoke screen. Those of us who have been vaping for quite some time have rarely had "john q public" raise a stink. I have vaped in resturaunts, the grocery store, and the mall. Not once have I been criticized or asked to stop. Most non smokers I talk to are shocked that there is even an "anti-vaping" movement going on in government.
They see these things as an obvious improvement over smoking.
The most ardent opposers to vaping have an obvious agenda in that they have something to lose if vaping is allowed to continue. They can be broken down as follows:
1. Public Health organizations: American Lung Association, Tobacco Free Kids, and the like. These people rely on donations to keep their jobs. In order to get funding, there has to be a dragon. Cigarettes are a great dragon. Vaping is a paper dragon. Should vaping be allowed to continue unfettered, the Paper Dragon defeats the Great Dragon and now these organizations can't fight health issues that don't exist.
2. Big Pharma: These companies make their money on selling expensive ineffective smoking cessation products. Big Pharma has no interest in you quitting permanently , unless you are dead. They expect you, the smoker to "try" and quit continuously and that's where they make their money.
3. Big Government: Government makes more money off of Tobacco than the Tobacco farmers themselves. This country was literally built on tobacco. If some farmer had not arrived to Jamestown with some illicit tobacco seeds in his possession, then Jamestown would have failed most likely. Tobacco was our colonies first major export. Tobacco and our government have been intertwined for over 230 years. The e-cig threatens to usurp this relationship and billions of billions of tax dollars (and politicians careers) are in jeopardy. Entire states economies rely on the tobacco industry to continue to thrive. If you think that the US wants some upstart Chinese Import to threaten some states entire existence, you have another thing coming
4. Big Tobacco: They have been the beneficiary of a tobacco friendly government for 230 years. Tobacco and US history are inseparable. For the first time in history, there is a technology that can actually make tobacco use a thing of the past. the Tobacco industry has put their stake in the ground in e-cigs, but it is only there to protect tobacco, not replace it.
The biggest threat to vaping, is apathy. Apathy from a non smoking public who doesn't care what happens to vapers or smokers because it doesn't "apply to me". Traditionally this is how liberty has been taken away in history. Death by a thousand cuts...Freedoms are taken away from people that others don't think applies to them and before you know it, it's been lost for everyone.
Whether it's gun control or vaping. John Q public says, well, I don't own a gun, and I don't smoke, and I don't vape, so why should I care.
You should care because it's your freedom that may be next.
Look at how many of our freedoms have been lost since 9/11 all in the name of "security". That's why I fight for my rights and the rights of others. A civil liberty lost for one group of people is a civil liberty lost for us all.
